The Fallacy of Greed
by gonyonomaru
Summary: Orochimaru x OC One-shot. "I am in control,"he sneered as he brought his fangs to her throat and sank them in. Mai gasped in pain and clenched her eyes shut. An aching throb beat within her chest at the revelation that there was nothing she could do.
1. Part 1

Hello! This is the final one-shot in the 'The Fallacy of…" series and it is an Orochimaru x OC. It might be a little darker than the other ones, but I will still try to inject some humor into it. Enjoy!

The Fallacy of Greed- Part 1.

"So you are finally waking up," a deep voice murmured somewhere in the background.

"Good morning, Mai," the voice continued and a tied down female opened her eyes to look around.

The first thing she saw was the one who had woken her. He had bright yellow eyes, which were slanted in a snake-like manor. This man was wearing a long olive green shirt with an odd purple bow around his waist.

She looked around the room and noticed that they were in a large cave and there were several pipelines going in and out of the wall. Currently, she was chained to one of the walls while in an upright position so she could easily glare into her captor's eyes.

"You don't remember how you got here, do you?" he mocked and she narrowed her eyes.

She hated to admit that he was right. In her mind, there was no recognition of what had happened to bring her to this dark, damp place in front of this ill-meaning, threatening man.

"I brought you here for a very important reason and you should be proud that I chose you," he stated matter of factly- as if he expected her to understand him.

He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a needle. "My name is Orochimaru and in case you didn't know, I devise experiments to perform on humans."

Mai's eyes flashed between the snake man and the needle. This was not good.

Finally, she cleared her throat and said, "What will that do?"

Orochimaru twirled the needle between his fingers. "It is supposed to create chakra rich blood, but I have not had much luck with it lately. You are the fifth person I am trying it on."

Her jaw tightened when she realized that her four predecessors were most likely no longer alive.

"This could kill me," she muttered and renewed hatred for the strange yellow eyed man swirled in her stomach.

He chuckled at her expression and walked up to her, leaving only a few feet between them. "Yes, it could, but if this works… you will never be short of chakra as long as you are alive."

Mai raised one eye brow at this fact. It made her curious about how this could be possible, but she had no reason to trust him. She still didn't know how she got here!

"So any last words in case this kills you?" he said, but his tone gave away how much he did not care about anything she said.

"My village will avenge me. They know you have been lurking about our forests and they will know you are responsible for my death," Mai bit out, growing angrier by the second.

This man, this _thing_, had no right to just take her and give her something that could kill her. Her hands became clenched in her bonds and she wished that they would shatter so she would be able to exact her revenge.

She did not want to die.

Orochimaru took two more strides toward her and brought the needle to her neck.

"Good night."

Mai felt the thin needle penetrate her skin and instantly, she could feel her chakra growing unbalanced.

She took one final breath and her eye lids drooped.

Everything went black.

…

"Good morning, Mai."

This time, her eyes snapped open at the first noise she had heard.

She was alive.

Her gaze traveled around the room and she noticed that this one was smaller. Orochimaru was in the middle of it and he had a self-absorbed grin on his lips.

Just like last time, she was chained to the wall and there was nothing she could do to get out of it.

"Congratulations, you survived the shot."

"So what? I am still here," she retorted with a sneer.

He chuckled and took a few steps toward her. "You don't seem to understand the situation."

Narrowing her eyes, she bit out, "Yes I do. You kidnapped me, stabbed me with a needle and now I'm locked up in some sort of jail cell. You're just going to keep experimenting on me until I die."

His smile faltered and he changed the subject by saying offhandedly, "Your village never did understand my work. I do not experiment on people. I make them better."

Mai growled, her anger once again getting the best of her. "Lies! You use people for your own sick needs and you don't even care! You sick son of a-"

_Slap._

"Remember you place, girl." His voice was low and threatening and she bit her tongue to stop herself from hissing in pain.

He was much faster than she had expected. One second he was a few feet away from her, but the next he had already slapped her.

"As I was saying, you do not understand the situation. Since the shot worked, I will not have to do any more experiments on you."

She looked at him doubtfully; hoping to believe he was telling the truth, but all the while knowing it was a lie.

"Does that mean I am free to go?" she stated blandly, trying to keep any hopefulness from showing in her voice.

Orochimaru chuckled and replied as if it was funny, "Of course not. Your chakra rich blood is of good use to me. I wouldn't just let you go so someone with bad intentions could use you."

Her eyes narrowed to slits at the irony and she suppressed a low growl. Each second, she was becoming sicker and sicker with disgust for this man. Every time he opened his mouth something negative spurred out.

"Now there are two things I could do to use your blood," he continued as he started pacing around the small room. "I could extract it with a needle, or I could simply suck it out."

This time, Mai couldn't stop herself from looking completely revolted.

"Using a needle would be redundant so I guess the only option is the one that made your pretty little face contort in disgust."

He stopped pacing and stroked her jaw line with his knuckles. An involuntary shiver raced down her spine and she grit her teeth.

"It just so happens that I have fangs... you really are one lucky girl," he whispered as he gave her an eyeful of his razor sharp teeth.

For a split second, her anger washed away and a deep fear replaced it. He was actually going to suck her blood.

Just as quickly as it came, the fear disappeared and the resolve to escape her captor took over.

Mai clenched her fists and gathered chakra within them, ready to try and break out of the chains.

Orochimaru noticed her small attempt at freedom and put his hand around her neck. "Don't even bother. I have blocked your chakra."

She furrowed her brow and wondered how she could have chakra rich blood, but be unable to use it. Her concentration went back to her fists, but it didn't seem to be working. At first, the chakra had come at her command but now, it was receding.

Her heartbeat quickened and she struggled to keep her face blank. Some desperation and panic seeped through and the snake-man smiled.

His hand was still around her throat so he could easily feel her erratic pulse.

"Don't tell me you're actually afraid," he mocked as he shifted his grip to the back of her head.

He leaned closer to her and she realized that he intended to bite her.

"W-Wait! I haven't... I haven't had time to recover yet... isn't it standard procedure to let the patient recover after the operation?" she stuttered as she tried to do everything in her power to stop him from biting her.

"Nice try, but there is nothing you can do now. _I _am in control," he sneered as he brought his fangs to her throat and sank them in.

She gasped at the pain and clenched her eyes shut to stop any tears from slipping out. With each passing second, she could feel her energy being stolen from her and a deep, aching throb beat within her chest at the soul crushing revelation that there was nothing she could do to stop him.

He pulled his fangs out and licked his lips, satisfied.

Looking at her face, he saw that her eyes were still shut and a deep frown was seated on her face.

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Orochimaru whispered into her ear.

She did not move and he knew that she was too weak to fight so he took out the key to her chains and untied her.

Mai's hands dropped to her sides when they were released, but other than that, she did not move.

He seemed somewhat irritated by her lack of response so he grabbed her chin to make her look up at him.

She opened her green eyes and kept them blank, letting no emotion be shown.

"I will be back tomorrow," he stated as he let go of her and walked out of the jail cell. He locked the door behind him and Mai could hear his footsteps as he left the vicinity.

When she was sure that he was out of hearing range, she released the breath she had been holding and brought her hand to her small wound.

She leaned against the wall and slid down to sit down.

So this was what her days were going to be like.

Mai glanced around her cell and saw that it was embarrassingly empty, with the exception of a small mat meant for sleeping.

Her eyes wandered back to the chains and an idea popped into her head.

The next time Orochimaru would come for her blood, she would not make it as easy.

...

Mai heard Orochimaru coming long before she saw him.

In the caves, his every footstep echoed and sent a shiver down her spine.

"Hello, Mai," he greeted her with a fake smile, which instantly disappeared when he saw what was around her neck.

"Hello, Orochimaru," she replied with an equally fake smile.

He opened her cell door and stepped inside. "What is that?"

She gave him an innocent stare and replied, "I have no idea what you are talking about. Everything here seems _normal_."

The snake-man narrowed his eyes and took a few strides to come stand in front of her. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her against the wall.

"What the hell is around your neck?" he sneered as he inspected the metallic material which concealed her throat.

"Oh that!" she exclaimed, not even the slightest bit worried about his proximity. "It used to be part of by armor for my wrists, but I thought it would be more useful around my throat."

His eyes narrowed even further, if possible, and he growled, "Did I not already tell you the consequences of disobedience?"

Mai was about to give a smart retort, but suddenly, Orochimaru drew back and punched her in the stomach.

She hissed in pain, but tried to give him minimal satisfaction of having hurt her so she did not double over and remained in an upright position.

He frowned and instead grabbed her throat. His chakra was not blocked so he used it to bend and rip the metal, which had taken her almost all night to fashion around her throat.

It took him little effort to discard the material and he then punched her in the stomach again.

This time, she was unable to hold in her pain and a small groan escaped her lips.

However, Orochimaru was not done with her yet so he drew a kunai and said, "This is just a warning. If you _ever_ do something like this again, I will do much, much worse."

Her eyes widened at the sight of the kunai, but she was unable to move fast enough to avoid it because it was instantly embedded within her right arm.

He pulled it out and crimson blood poured out.

Then, he pushed her up against the wall again, grabbed the back of her head and sank his fangs into her flesh.

Mai struggled at first, but her right arm was useless and his grip was too tight for her left arm to be able to do anything.

The bite was deeper than last time so with each heartbeat, a white, hot pain radiated from her throat.

Finally, Orochimaru retracted his fangs and let go of her. Without anything to hold her up, she fell to the ground with a dull thud.

He stepped over her barely conscious body and locked her cell.

"I will be back tomorrow."

His footsteps echoed away and Mai groaned in pain.

Her arm, throat and stomach were engulfed in pain and there was little she could do about it.

With the last of her energy, she used the sleeve of her shirt to wrap around the stab wound to lessen the bleeding.

Then, her eyes began to droop and things started to become blurry.

Mai closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

The silence closed down around her and everything went black.

...

The first thing Mai recognized when she woke up was the familiar feeling of pain.

All her muscles were stiff and her head felt much heavier than it should have been.

The second thing she recognized, though, was a little more pleasant.

A sweet, heavenly smell wafted toward her nose and she comprehended that it was the scent of pancakes drenched in syrup.

For a second, she thought she was hallucinating, but when she opened her eyes, she saw a plate of pancakes by the entrance to the cell.

Her eyes lit up and her stomach growled in anticipation. She had not eaten a single thing for over two days.

She reached forward, but then, reality came crashing down.

Mai was chained to the wall.

The mirth disappeared from her eyes as she realized the cruel trick. Orochimaru had brought her food, but there was no way she could get to it.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes and tried to calm her emotions. She did not know how much longer she could endure this physical and mental anguish before she would break down.

"Those pancakes smell delicious. Don't you want to have a bite?" the voice of her captor broke through her thoughts.

Mai's eyes snapped open and she turned her head to stare at him. He was just outside her cell.

With a frown, she understood that he had seen her reaction and he was probably enjoying seeing her suffer.

Sick bastard.

He opened the cell door and stepped inside, picking the plate of pancakes up.

Then, he walked toward her and using a fork, cut a small piece. He brought the fragrant morsel of food in front of her.

Her mouth watered and she tried to stop a beady, animalistic stare from overtaking her eyes.

"Do you want me to give this to you?" he mocked as he watched her inner battle.

One part of her wanted to beg him for the food, but the other wanted to spit in his face.

"No, you have probably poisoned it," she replied to his question.

His face split into a grin. "Alright, suit yourself. I guess I will just eat it myself."

Orochimaru stood mere inches away from her as he placed the piece of pancake in his mouth.

Mai's breathing become irregular and she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from saying something she would regret later.

"Oh, I can't stand seeing you in so much pain. Here, have a piece," he said in a sickly sweet tone as he cut another piece of pancake.

Her eyes widened, but then narrowed when he put the piece in his mouth.

She was about to curse him for lying, but then he leaned forward and crashed his lips into hers.

He used her momentary shock to pry her mouth open and slip his tongue in.

By then, an alarm was ringing in her head and she started struggling to get out of the uncomfortable situation.

Orochimaru used his tongue to maneuver the piece of pancake into her mouth and then he pulled away from her.

Her facial expression was a mix of shock, disgust, and confusion.

She clenched her mouth shut and even though it revolted her to no end, she swallowed the piece of pancake.

"There. Now unless you want me to feed the rest of the pancakes to you like that, you must promise that you will never, ever disobey me like you did yesterday," he said lightly, even though the threat was heavy.

Mai's mind raced to figure out what to say, but the options were clear. Be French-kissed to death by a disgusting snake or be obedient.

"Alright, I will be obedient," she bit out with growing anger. She hated to be cornered into making a decision.

"Good girl," he congratulated with a mocking smile as he untied her from her bonds.

Her hand instinctively went to her wounded arm, while her gaze defensively wandered to the pancakes.

"Enjoy," he said as he held the plate out to her.

Mai took it and muttered a small 'thank you'. He chuckled and walked out of the cell, locking it behind him.

"I will be seeing you again tonight."

...

Mai leaned against the cell wall and exhaled loudly.

There was absolutely nothing to do in the cell.

On the first day after her deal with Orochimaru, she had slept to try and heal her injuries.

The second, she had stared at the wall and imagined a clock to be there.

The third, she made a makeshift calendar with her dried blood on the wall and started at it.

On the fourth, she got tired of staring so instead, she counted to a million out loud.

Today was the fifth day after the deal, seventh overall, and she was completely depressed.

It had only been a week, but she already felt like hitting her head repeatedly against the wall.

Sure, Orochimaru brought her food every day but that did not mean she was happy.

He had already drunk her blood today so she was 'free' for the next 24 hours. Mai took a second to mentally curse him for blocking her chakra, but then really started thinking about her situation.

She had chakra rich blood, but her chakra was blocked.

It seemed redundant, and at the back of her mind, she knew that there was a way to break free.

The gears in her mind started turning and she realized that in order to free chakra, some chakra is needed in the first place.

She had her blood and if she was somehow able to get it in a circle around her she would be able to do the hand signs necessary and the blood would execute it for her.

A rare smile crossed her lips as she unwrapped the bandage around her arm. The wound was mostly healed, but there was still a bit of an open wound.

Taking a deep breath, the dug her finger into the wound and a trickle of blood came down.

Mai took the blood and started smearing it in a circle around her. Soon enough, it was complete so she recovered her wound.

Then, she sat in the middle with her hands together as if she was praying. She did the hand seals necessary to free someone from blocked chakra and waited.

Her blood seemed to grow a shade lighter and she started feeling hot.

Mai's heart started beating faster and she could feel her chakra swirling inside her belly.

She smiled and stood up, eager to see if her plan had worked.

Getting in an attacking position, she did the seals for the shadow clone jutsu.

There was a puff of smoke and her doppelganger was then standing in front of her. She smiled at herself, but then gasped at her wretched appearance.

Her hair was all tangled, her clothes were covered in blood and she looked much paler than she remembered.

The clone gestured to the entrance to the cell and she nodded.

They both did the seals for Chidori and ran at the door with their hand covered in lightning. The door blew apart and they were standing on the other side.

Mai made her clone disappear and she cautiously started running down the hall.

She had no idea where Orochimaru was during the day and she also had no idea how to get out of the base.

Her heart was beating even quicker and she quickly prayed that no one would find her. She knew that the punishment for such disobedience was going to be horrible.

For half an hour, she tiptoed around and did not see a single soul so she was rather suspicious when she found the exit. After checking for traps, she went outside and then broke into a sprint.

She did not dare so stop and celebrate.

There would hopefully be time for that later.

…

Orochimaru walked down the hallway to his prisoner.

It was time for him to drink her blood again and of course, mock her about it as well.

"Hello, Mai," he said as he turned the corner and looked into the cell.

His eyes narrowed and he frowned, his previous light mood completely gone.

The door was open and it looked like it had been blown apart by Chidori.

He punched the wall with a grimace.

Mai had somehow gotten her chakra back.

Orochimaru glanced at the blood circle in the middle of the room and understood what she had done.

He turned around and left to go get Sasuke. They were going to go find Mai and this time, he would be far more careful about how he took 'care' of her.

Finding Sasuke was not hard considering that the teen was always training.

"Sasuke, I have a mission for us to do," he said in that misleadingly calm voice.

The Uchiha sighed in annoyance and followed his mentor outside.

"We are going to find an escaped prisoner. Your job is to fight her. There is no need to hold back, as long as she lives through it," Orochimaru ended darkly.

He wanted her to suffer for going against his command.

…

Mai ran through the forest as quickly as she could.

She had been running for over a day now because when she had left it was the evening and now it was midnight of the next day.

The only time she had stopped was to drink some water from a stream and eat a few wild berries.

As she continued to run, she realized that she was not getting tired.

It was very strange and she decided that Orochimaru had been telling the truth when he said that she would never run out of chakra as long as she was alive.

Another day passed just as quickly and still she did not stop to rest.

Mai wondered if maybe she would never stop running away, but she was sure that she was overreacting.

Right now, she was running toward Earth Country. Her plan was to run as far northwest as she could so that she would go into the land that was not mapped.

There was a mountain range between the northwestern border of Earth Country and the unknown land so her goal was to cross those mountains.

If Orochimaru was going to try and track her chakra, she knew that it would be impossible if she was beyond the mountains.

Suddenly, there was a loud crashing noise and a huge cloud of dust rose just ahead of her.

Her breath hitched in her throat and she stopped dead in her tracks.

It was a giant snake.

The snake was a deep purple color and Orochimaru was sitting on its head. There was also a boy, but she did not know who he was.

"Hello there, Mai. I have to admit, you got a lot farther than I expected you to," the snake-man stated and she cursed.

"Sasuke, go get her," he continued and the boy jumped down from the snake's head. He drew his sword and started running toward her.

Mai narrowed her eyes and did a few hand seals. She had nothing to defend or attack with so she summoned a long katana.

Sasuke's sword started to glow a bright blue and she instantly recognized that his sword would be able to cut anything.

Her face went blank as she dodged his blows and started thinking about what to do to win. The first thing she needed to do was get the sword away from him so she stopped for a split second and made several clones.

She knew that he was an Uchiha and that meant he had to activate his Sharingan in order to see which of the clones was real. That gave her a one second opportunity during when he closed his eyes to activate the ocular power.

Just as planned, the teen paused for a second and closed his eyes. At that moment, one of her clones burst from underground and kicked his sword away.

Another clone then grabbed the sword and used an Earth Jutsu to disappear underground.

Phase one complete.

Sasuke landed on his feet and glared before running straight at her.

Mai used her katana to block his blows and meanwhile, she ordered her clones to start running toward Orochimaru.

She jumped a few feet away from the Uchiha and did the seal for the jutsu that allowed her to switch places with one of her clones.

It worked and Sasuke frowned when he ended up punching through a clone.

"Not bad," Orochimaru complimented when the real Mai shot out of the bushes and threw her katana at him.

She was not happy that he knew she was there, but she should not have underestimated him.

He caught the katana and said, "I guess I will have to defeat you with your own weapon."

Mai's face split into a grin and she yelled, "Katsu!"

The katana exploded and Orochimaru cursed in pain before falling to his knees, bleeding. He was not going to die, but he would be unable to continue the battle.

She briefly looked down to where Sasuke was and saw that he had picked up her real katana.

When using the switching jutsu, it is a challenge to teleport with objects at hand so Orochimaru should have known that the katana she had thrown was a decoy.

Then, she turned around and started running again.

Sasuke was probably not going to chase her and Orochimaru would want to heal because she was sure that his large pride would make him want to defeat her himself.

Thus, Mai had a few hours to run away from the area and come up with another plan for the next battle.

"You won't get away from me!" she heard him yelling far behind her and she sighed.

This was definitely not where she expected to be a week ago.

Soon enough, she was back in the direction of the northwestern mountains and she allowed herself to relax a fraction of a degree.

Even if it took her countless battles, she would escape.

"Hello, girl, you are coming with me," a deep voice suddenly said in front of her.

Mai originally thought it was Orochimaru, but there was something different. This voice was more... malicious.

She stopped running and got in a defensive position. Whoever this was, she had no intention of going with them.

"Boo!" a much shriller voice yelled behind her and suddenly, she felt herself being pulled into some sort of vortex.

What...? Were there two people...? Why was she spinning...?

Mai fell to the ground with a thud and then jumped up with wide eyes.

She was in a tunnel and a shadowy figure wearing a black cloak with head clouds on it was standing in front of her.

"Who are you?" she questioned as she backed away.

"Your new owner," he replied, the voice was deep again.

Anger swirled in her stomach and she bit out, "No! I refuse to be another person's possession!"

Suddenly, she was flying back and she could barely register what had happened. Pain blossomed in her stomach so she guessed she had just been punched.

Her back collided with the wall and she crumpled to the floor.

Her eyes went wide at the amount of power that had taken and she could only stare in shock at the figure which had done this so her.

"Orochimaru may have been foolish enough to let you escape, but I will not be that idiotic. You are valuable and I intend to keep you for a very, very long time," he continued and her heart skipped a beat.

This person was so much stronger than Orochimaru and for once, she was actually terrified.

"Now listen well for I will not repeat myself. You will only speak when spoken to and if you so much as think about escaping, I will make you suffer. You will not complain, beg or cry. You will call me Madara-sama and if I hear you mention that snake vermin's name, you will also be punished," he finished with a dark sneer.

Mai bit back a gasp when she heard his name. _Madara. _Was this _the_ Uchiha Madara?

She did not ask and he stepped close enough for her to see that he was wearing a bright orange mask and that one blood red eye was glaring at her.

"Come," he ordered as he started walking down the hallway.

There was some hesitation, but after remembering his threats, she followed.

She was so confused and she still did not understand what had happened.

Just a few short moments ago she was running from Orochimaru, but now, she had a much larger threat to deal with.

"Get in," the Uchiha's rough voice interrupted her scattered thoughts.

She looked at what he was referring to and inwardly sighed. It was another jail cell.

The only difference was that this one had much thicker chains and it was pitch black. Orochimaru had left some lights on in the hallway so it was not dark back in his cell, but here, there was absolutely nothing.

Mai stepped in and so did Madara.

Once again, she could barely register what happened because she was suddenly against the wall and Madara tied the chains around her feet and arm.

Then, he took off his glove, bit down on his thumb and spread the blood on her forehead.

She frowned at the odd gesture and watched with worry as he did a few hand seals.

"You will not be able to unblock your chakra without me," he stated and Mai grit her teeth as she felt her chakra leaving her.

"I will come by each morning to use your blood and you will be fed once a day," he informed her with the least bit of care.

She was about to demand how he found out about her blood in the first place and explain that one meal would not be enough to replace the amount of blood lost each day, but the one eyed glare he shot her silenced her.

"I will be seeing you tomorrow."

Madara locked the door behind him with a click and she sighed.

This was a horrible mess to be stuck in the middle of.

To be continued...

This is the end of part 1!

This was only supposed to be a one-shot, but I am only half way through the plot so...

Off to part 2!

Thanks for reading!

Rate and Review. :D


	2. Part 2

Hello! This is the second and final part of the Orochimaru One-shot!

Thanks for reading so far and enjoy!

The Fallacy of Greed- Part 2.

All Mai could see was black.

And beyond that... there was even more black.

After seeing black for so long, she swore that there were shades of black.

She sighed and shook her head at her foolishness.

Now was not the time to think about silly tricks of the light... or lack of it.

There was no way to tell time in this jail cell so each second seemed like an eternity.

Was Madara just going to leave her there forever?

Somewhere in the distance, there was the sound of footsteps and for a second, she hoped it was Orochimaru.

A frown formed on her lips at the idea that she would rather be in Orochimaru's presence than Madara's. Choosing one captor over the other; this whole mess had completely screwed with her sense of 'good'.

The footsteps were closer now and Mai swallowed the lump in her throat.

She felt like she was about to meet with the devil himself.

The walking stopped and it sounded like someone was opening the door to her vast universe of darkness.

She took a deep breath and forced her face to go blank. Even in the face of death, she refused to be afraid.

"Hello Mai, have the accommodations been to your liking?" Madara mocked lightly as he opened the heavy metal door and let a pale, yellow glow flutter into the room.

The female moved around in her chains, which tied her to the wall and restricted practically all movement.

Naturally, her response should have been cursing, sneering or angry screaming, but the Uchiha's threats from before where still heavy in her mind.

"I am very comfortable. Thank you for your hospitality," she finally managed to state and she mentally appraised herself for keeping her voice free of distaste and rage.

Madara chuckled and stepped into the cell. He was holding a small lamp, which lit the cell up for her to see.

It was much smaller than the entrapment Orochimaru had provided her with and it was a lot more hopeless.

The walls were a murky brown color, but Orochimaru's had been a light grey, which gave more of an opportunistic feel.

Madara's cell was just plain depressing.

"I understand that Orochimaru used his fangs to extract your blood, but I have a more sensible approach," the elder Uchiha started as he leisurely hung the lamp on the wall.

From his body language, Mai could tell that he was completely relaxed and that he had to qualms about making her suffer.

She clenched her teeth when he came closer to her and examined the bite mark Orochimaru had left.

"I will take your blood out using the classic Maple Tree method," he continued and he pulled out several needles.

Her brow furrowed at the tree reference, but she was too worried about the massive length and width of the needles to think about it.

Madara picked up on that so he explained, "Up north, farmers use round saws to make holes in Maple trees. Then, they put a pipe in and hang a bucket so that the Maple Syrup would flow into the bucket."

A horrified expression was shadowed on Mai's face as she realized what he was going to do.

"For research purposes, I must make several holes and extract your blood," he finished like he had just been telling a story to a child.

She was disgusted by his carefree attitude about poking her through with thumb sized holes.

He chose one needle from the bunch and Mai instinctively tried to press herself against the wall and away from him.

If he found her feeble attempt amusing, he did not say anything because to looked quite concentrated on the task at hand.

The first needle he brought to the vein at her right elbow and with the preciseness of a surgeon, he inserted the needle.

Mai grit her teeth, but it did not hurt that much.

For a second, she wondered if Madara was actually going to be merciful.

He took out another needle and this time, he put it in the same place, but only on her other arm.

The third and fourth were places in the calves of her legs while the fifth was uncomfortably inserted in her neck.

Moving became impossible because if she so much as twitched, the needles would dig further into her.

Madara took out the sixth and final needle and twirled it in his finger for a moment. Her eyes narrowed and he said, "This is the most important one."

She reviewed where the rest of the needles were and realized that each was in a main artery. But he had left out the most crucial one.

Her heart.

"Wait-," she choked out but suddenly unimaginable pain exploded in her chest.

Mai looked down in disbelief as she saw the thick, rigid needle prodding out of her heart.

Each heartbeat and breath caused a whole new wave of pain to flush through her.

She gasped and tasted blood in her mouth.

Her heart was struggling to keep pumping sufficient blood to her limbs and Madara knew it.

Looking up at him, she saw his one eye narrowed slightly- completely merciless.

By now, the needle was half full with blood; the same went for the other needles embedded in her body.

To much blood was being taken out and she started getting lightheaded.

Fearing it was her last few moments, she forced herself to take a deep breath and bite out, "I hope you... will die... a slow and painful death."

More blood entered her mouth and a tortured cough shot out. It made each needle burn like a blue flame.

Madara acted like he had not heard her say anything and he stated, "When each needle is full. I will leave you for today."

Relief was supposed to rush through her, but all she could feel was pain.

Her vision was getting blurry and breathing was becoming more of a challenge.

Mai barely felt Madara remove the needles in her arms, legs and neck because her full attention was centered on the one piercing her heart.

It was almost full but she could no longer tell because her head drooped and her eyes automatically shut.

The Uchiha removed the needle with a blank expression under his mask. She was unconscious, but not dead.

He removed the chains around her and let her fall to the ground.

Now her remaining blood could go to her head and prevent brain damage.

Her life was meaningless to him, but its usefulness was not yet fulfilled.

He took the lamp and needles with him before shutting the door.

Mai's bloody body was drenched in darkness.

...

Pain. Relief. Confusion. More pain.

Mai really didn't know why she was still alive.

Sure, she was glad, but it made no sense to her.

So much blood had been taken from her that it seemed impossible for there to be enough to keep her alive.

She took a deep breath, but then regretted it because a sharp pain stabbed at her chest and all the other entry wounds.

At first, she was content to just lie on the floor and thankfully listen to her heartbeat, but she soon became aware of the sticky, clammy feel of her own blood on her skin.

Though it was unlikely, Mai wanted to feel comfortable.

She gathered all her strength and used her arms and knees to get herself into a dog position, but then got stuck.

Her calf muscles were not strong enough to let her stand and her arm muscles would not be able to support her weight either. Plus, the head rush she could get if she stood up might knock her unconscious.

Gritting her teeth, she decided to crawl forward and try to find a wall to lean against.

It was still pitch black and there was no way her tired eyes would be able to see things anyway.

She thought about sticking her hands in front of her to feel for a wall, but she barely had any balance as it was.

That just left her head...

Sighing and clearing her throat, Mai began to crawl forward at a snail's pace.

A few times, she nearly crumbled to the floor, but she was determined to get to the wall. After what seemed like an eternity, her head tapped against one of the walls.

Mai wanted to smile at the accomplishment, but she thought it would be silly to be glad about finding a wall.

Some maneuvering later, she had her back against the wall and her muscles could finally relax.

She let out a long sigh, but regretted it because it started a fit of painful coughing. Even though it was dark, she knew she was coughing up blood.

Her head was feeling dizzy again and she wanted to just give in to the temptation of going to sleep and never waking up.

There was a grim frown on her face as she understood that if she fell asleep now, it was unlikely she would ever open her eyes again.

The pain was ebbing away, now merely a throb, but Mai had no choice but to sit and stay awake.

After sitting in the silent black void for what seemed like hours, she was a little startled to hear footsteps.

Had it already been a day?

Panic welled up inside her at the idea that even more blood was going to be taken away from her.

With each second, the footsteps were getting closer and closer, but Mai still had no idea what to do.

She couldn't run or fight, which meant all she could do was give up.

Frowning at the thought, she mentally kicked her brain in an attempt to come up with something- _anything._

There was a click and the door opened.

Like in a horror movie, it creaked and the person about to walk in cast a long shadow. Her breath hitched in her throat and she could feel her panic taking over any rational thoughts.

"I brought you some food," the owner of the shadow spoke.

Her mind went blank. Why didn't she think of that?

"Uh...Th-Thanks," she stuttered after realizing she should be thankful.

Madara took a step into the cell and she saw that he was carrying a plate of grey gruel. It looked absolutely disgusting and she wondered if she even wanted to risk eating it.

Her mind wandered over to the nice, edible meals Orochimaru had given her, but then she snapped back into reality.

"Come get it," the Uchiha stated as he made no move to come closer to her.

She stared at him questioningly, but then replied, "I can't."

He seemed to narrow his eyes at her. "Then you do not get any food."

Mai's face looked pained as she started at the food and she started using the wall to push herself into an upright position.

She was about to make a step forward, when suddenly she was against the wall opposite to the one she had just been leaning against.

Something in her back cracked painfully and she felt completely tense, yet unable to do anything.

Madara was holding her neck with one hand and the bowl of gruel with the other. Though the food was atrocious, she could not help but look at it longingly.

"Too late," he sneered about her earlier attempt at the food.

She forced her face to go blank; willing the pain of starvation to the back of her mind.

But the anger... it was back. Mai felt so outraged at everything that had happened to her.

Having nothing to loose, she looked up at her cruel 'master' and growled, "Fine, don't give me your shitty crap. I would rather eat a chuck of cement than anything you touched."

The Uchiha growled back, but it was a deep, savage sound that chilled her to the bone.

"You should be praising me for letting you live this long," he started out with pure murderous intent.

Then he took a long breath and leaned closer to her to whisper, "But I guess that is because I have not shown you what I can do."

Instantly, he had both hands around her face and he was forcing her to look into his eye.

The bowl of gruel, now no longer being held by something, fell to the ground and covered the floor with its being.

Mai, however, did not hear anything because she was already deep within Madara's genjutsu world.

Everything was red so it shocked her to some extent after being engulfed by black for so long.

"You have one last chance to beg for forgiveness," Madara's voice mocked from all around her.

Pride on the line, Mai replied, "Why don't you stick that 'last chance' up your butt because I'm sure that's the closest you will ever be to getting laid, you old sack of-."

She gasped as several metal nails burst out of the redness and toward her.

Her first reaction was to run, but she could not move as suddenly, each nail stabbed through the top and bottom of her lips, rendering her unable to speak.

A muffled scream ripped through her throat as she tried to get them out.

"My, my. When your mouth is open, you sure have a lot of rude things to say. It's a lot better when you're quiet," the Uchiha continued as he watched her writhe in pain.

He chuckled. "That pain was nothing. We still have 72 hours to go."

...

Mai lay on the floor.

Her eyes were wide open, but they were so blank that it seemed she no longer had a soul.

Madara had long since finished with her and left with a smug smirk.

It seemed that causing people pain brought him some kind of twisted joy.

Her physical injuries had not changed, but mentally she was just a pile of blood and bones.

72 hours at the hands of a merciless expert torturer simply were too horrific to describe.

She wanted to cry out in pain and make herself forget, but the memories were burned into her mind like he had taken a branding iron and written down each and every little thing he had done to her.

At last, a tear slipped out of her eye and yet, she still did not blink.

She couldn't.

Every time she closed her eyes, vivid images of her living nightmare accosted her.

The abandoned bowl of spilled gruel was inches away from her, but she was too distraught to reach out to it.

She doubted she could even move.

Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps and her entire body went tense.

Fear overwhelmed her and she instinctively threw herself to the nearest corner. She pulled her knees toward her and used her hands to shield her face.

No matter what, she was not going to look him in the eyes.

The door creaked open and Mai stopped breathing.

"Mai, come here," a soothing voice whispered.

The voice was kind; caring almost.

Still, she did not look up as she whispered back, "Please Madara-sama, you have already done enough for one day."

A few hours ago, she would have spat at his name and never begged. But the genjutsu...

"It's me, Orochimaru," the voice reassured and Mai cautiously peeked to look at him.

"Why are you here?"

"To rescue you from Madara. I was worried that he had already killed you," came the reply and she became even more confused.

One captor rescuing her from another?

She staggered up, but made no move toward him.

Though there was poor lighting, she could tell he had a reassuring look on his face and that it really was Orochimaru.

Mai took a step forward, her first one in days, and instantly, her knees buckled and she started falling.

He caught her just before she hit the ground and said, "Try not to make any noise. I don't want him to find us."

She nodded and let herself be carried. Her pride had been cut so short thanks to Madara that she simply did not care anymore.

Orochimaru ran down the hallways and eventually made it outside of the base. Since he was a former Akatsuki member, he knew exactly how to get around.

Then, he ran through the forest and somewhere during that, Mai fell asleep.

At last, she was free again, even if that meant she was going to be a prisoner again shortly.

...

"Tobi, Orochimaru just took Mai," white Zetsu informed Madara calmly.

The Uchiha made no move to react to that and instead gestured for the plant-man to come closer.

"I was finished with her anyway. The blood was more than enough to construct a mindless flesh creature," Madara explained.

In front of them there was a large transparent tube inside of which was a lump that vaguely resembled a human.

"Just like with Hashirama, I was able to use the DNA to re-create the being. It has no mind, but it can properly create the blood that I need," he continued his explanation.

Zetsu fell silent and looked at the creation.

"Actually, it's better that Orochimaru took her. Now he has one more way to see the effects of my genjutsu."

...

Orochimaru looked down at the sleeping form of Mai.

She was supposed to look peaceful and calm, but instead, her face was contorted with pain.

It looked as if she was feeling an extreme ache and that she was trying to fight it off, but couldn't.

Occasionally, she let out a small cry or whimper, but other then that, her mental torture was silent.

He thought about waking her up but she needed to heal her injuries in her sleep so he didn't.

They had been back at Orochimaru's base for a couple of hours now and he was determined to stay by her side until she awoke.

After all, he had to ask her what Madara had done to turn her from the placid, composed female ninja to the injured wreck in front of him.

Mai rolled over to her side and tightened herself into a ball.

She had lost some weight and he guessed that Madara had not given her a single thing to eat.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and within a second, she was at the opposite side of the cell.

She was in a defensive position and her eyes were wide with terror.

When she saw it was him, she relaxed slightly and scanned the area.

They were back in the cell he had placed her in the beginning.

"Mai, you are safe now. Madara won't be able to get you," the snake-man comforted as he took a few steps toward her.

There was a wild, frantic look in her eyes, but there was also confusion, pain and fear.

"I brought some food. You must be hungry," he continued as he gestured to the plate of ramen and some sushi.

Her gaze flashed between him and the food and she cautiously inched toward the food.

At last, when she was a step away, she said, "Thank you."

She sat down and ate like a savage, but he could tell that she was holding back from looking like a complete animal.

When she was done, she stood up again and examined her bandaged wounds.

Her face turned somber and she stated, "Madara can teleport. He can get me at any moment. Besides, he has blocked my chakra."

Orochimaru did not look concerned as he replied, "I will not let him get you and I am sure that he was done collecting his blood samples already. He will no longer be coming after you."

He paused and she analyzed the information. She wanted to believe him, but the negative was outweighing the positive.

"As for your chakra," Orochimaru continued, "I am an expert at breaking seals and your chakra will be restored."

Mai shook her head in confusion. "You are going to restore my chakra?"

He nodded. "Yes. There is no point in trying to keep you captive, but there is also a large risk when you go outside."

She was even more confused.

"There are many people like Madara. They will find and kidnap you. I might not always be there to protect you."

Both of her eyebrows were raised so he continued, "You are free to stay at my base and I guarantee your safety. However, you will still have to give me your blood once a week."

"Once a week? Freedom?" she blurted with shock written all over her face.

"I will only need your blood once a week because some of it has already adapted to my system. And yes, you are free to come and go as you please," he answered patiently.

Mai leaned against the wall and narrowed her eyes in thought.

She stayed silent for a few minutes before looking up at him and announcing, "I will stay with you, Orochimaru, and I will willingly give you my blood in exchange for protection. However, I intent to make frequent trips outside because living in caves will make me go insane. Is that acceptable?"

Her formality surprised him a bit, but he smiled at her usual, composed self that was back. "Yes, your terms are acceptable. I am glad that you are staying, Mai."

A small smile crossed her lips and they shook on it.

"Now come, you will no longer be staying in a jail cell."

Orochimaru led her away from the entrapment and toward her new room, which actually had furniture and was suitable for living.

Mai followed him silently.

This was the start of her new life.

...

"Is that the best you got, Sas-UKE!" Mai yelled as she threw several kunai at the Uchiha while avoiding his fireball jutsu.

"I'm just getting started, Mini-Mai!" the teen yelled back as he charged at her with his sword.

"I'm not little!" she hissed and tried to kick him in the side.

Sasuke jumped out of the way and replied, "And I'm not gay but you still call me that!"

They ran at each other again and exchanged blows.

Orochimaru chuckled at the scene.

It was so nice to see his former prisoner and student being so... active.

Sasuke and Mai trained after lunch daily, but it was mostly because one would provoke the other during meal time and they would fight.

He had long ago restored her chakra and the first thing she had done was provoke Sasuke with the affectionate nickname mentioned earlier.

"Fine! If you're not gay, you're a chicken ass head!" Mai announced while making odd chicken noises and flapping her arms like said bird.

The young Uchiha growled at her and they exchanged some more blows.

"Mai, Sasuke, I think that is enough for one day," Orochimaru interrupted and they jumped away from each other.

"Sasuke, you are free to go but Mai, could you come with me?" he continued.

She was beside him shortly and she chirped, "What is it, doc?"

Her posture was completely relaxed and she was carefree enough to give him a nickname. A smile was usually on her lips and her mood was always light.

"It has been a week," the snake-man started out slowly, not wanting to upset her.

Mai nodded and a small sigh escaped her lips. "I figured. Go ahead and take my blood. It's the least I can do for you letting me stay here and annoy your student."

He was a bit confused by her reaction, but nonetheless, he had to do it.

She stopped walking and leaned against the wall so he stood in front of her.

Brushing her hair out of the way, he leaned toward her and his fangs were extended. He tried to be as gentle as he could as he pierced her soft flesh.

A minute later, he pulled away and licked his lips.

Mai gave him a smile and said, "That wasn't so bad."

"I am glad that you're okay," he replied and her smile widened.

"You've been so kind lately. If Madara hadn't kidnapped me, would you be this nice?"

Her question was innocent, but he could feel a hint of calculation under it.

Orochimaru placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I hope I would."

...

"It's snowing! Come quick!"

Mai ran into the room covered in snow and jumped up and down.

"Stop yelling. It's not that exciting," Sasuke replied as he continued reading his book.

She scowled at him, reached into her pocket, pulled out a snowball and chucked it in the direction of the moody teen.

He dodged it easily and she ran out of the room with a small yelp.

Orochimaru looked up from his book and said, "Go. I know you want revenge for every little bad thing that happens to you."

The Uchiha ignored the insult, but ran after Mai, who was already outside.

A minute later, Orochimaru sighed and started walking in their direction. Seriously, sometimes it was like babysitting children.

By the time he got outside, Sasuke was using fireball jutsu to melt all of the snow and Mai was countering it with a waterfall jutsu.

"Water will also make the snow melt," Sasuke stated in between breaths.

She scoffed. "No! The water will freeze and create ice."

Another round of fighting began and soon enough, they were exchanging insults as well as blows.

Orochimaru watched patiently until finally, Sasuke got tired of being called a 'giant man-boob' and left.

Mai landed on the ground beside Orochimaru and took a deep breath.

"This is absolutely beautiful."

She caught a snowflake on her hand and her hand clenched around it.

"Mai, you get excited about many things, but why this specifically?" Orochimaru finally spoke up, his curiosity getting the best of him.

Her face turned somber. "I thought I was going to die a month ago. I thought I would never see snow again and yet, here I am."

He put a reassuring arm around her shoulders and they looked out onto the falling snow.

"Each moment I live... I feel like it's a gift and I am happy." She laughed dryly. "I wish I had been like that _before_ this whole ordeal."

Now it was Orochimaru's turn to chuckle. "Your happiness feels so normal here. No one has ever smiled in my presence willingly."

She looked up at him in surprise, but then remembered his experiments and many prisoners with a grim nod.

He looked down into her eyes and she suppressed a gasp at the staggering amount loneliness that she saw.

"Mai, I am used to being hated. But the kindness and care you show around me is so new. I don't know what I am supposed to do," he shared his feelings and her eyes widened.

"Is this the occasion when people give each other presents?" he continued with genuine wondering.

She recollected her thoughts and explained, "In normal cases yes, but... you have already given me so much that I ask for nothing more."

Orochimaru smiled and they continued looking out into the snow.

Suddenly, he twisted Mai around to stand right in front of him and crushed his lips into hers.

She gasped, but kissed back.

The snow just continued to fall around them.

The End!

Thank you for reading!

And thus, the 'Fallacy of...' series is over.

Thanks to all those that waited patiently!

Rate and review!


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